Egypt recalls envoy in Israel over assault on Gaza

Egypt recalled its ambassador from Israel on Wednesday after Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip killed Hamas's top military commander and at least six other Palestinians, presidential spokesman Yasser Ali said.

"President Mohamed Morsi has followed the Israeli brutal assault in which a number of martyrs and sons of the Palestinian people were killed," Yasser Ali said in a statement on television and on his Facebook page.

"On this basis he has recalled the Egyptian ambassador from Israel; has ordered the Egyptian representative at the United Nations to call for an emergency meeting at the Security Council ... and summoned the Israeli ambassador in Egypt in protest over the assault," the statement added.

Writing by Marwa Awad; Editing by Michael Roddy